About

ABOUT CHICAGO NORTHSIDE MINI MAKER FAIRE:Chicago Northside Mini Maker Faire is the first and largest officially licensed Maker Faire in the Chicagoland area. We began humbly, as a grassroots effort to bring the maker movement to Chicago, straight into the hands of our city’s youth. In 2011, local lockpicker and mathematics educator Christina Pei teamed up with Schurz High School‘s Principal Dan Kramer to found this local celebration of the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) spirit. Chicago Northside Mini Maker Faire focuses on education–educators teaching educators, amateurs teaching professionals, students teaching families. With a shoestring budget and only a dream, our inaugural Maker Faire in April, 2012 was a smashing success thanks to the 50+ makers who shared their talents in 3D printing, up-cycling, and urban farming just to name a few. Each year we returned bigger and better than the last, with our third annual event showcasing 80 makers and over 2,000 attendees. In May, 2015 we present our fourth annual event. Come join the fun!

ABOUT THE URBAN SCHOOL FOUNDATION:
Chicago Northside Mini Maker Faire has teamed up with 501(c)3 non-profit The Urban School Foundation to act as our fiscal sponsor. The Urban School Foundation is dedicated to helping students of Schurz High School become future leaders and entrepreneurs. As fiscal sponsors of the second annual Mini Maker Faire Chicago Northside, the Foundation helps to promote the entrepreneurial spirit in Chicago. Our makers represent a mix of young and experienced, hobbyists and professionals, unique interests, and people of all backgrounds. Everyone has something to teach, and infinitely more to learn. Come experience it for yourself!

About Maker Faire:

Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth—a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement. It’s a place where people show what they are making, and share what they are learning.

Makers range from tech enthusiasts to crafters to homesteaders to scientists to garage tinkerers. They are of all ages and backgrounds. The aim of Maker Faire is to entertain, inform, connect and grow this community.

The original Maker Faire event was held in San Mateo, CA and in 2013 celebrated its eighth annual show with some 900 makers and 120,000 people in attendance. World Maker Faire New York, the other flagship event, has grown in three years to 500+ makers and 55,000 attendees. Detroit, Kansas City, Newcastle (UK), Rome, and Tokyo are the home of “featured” 2013 Maker Faires (200+ makers), and community-driven, independently organized Mini Maker Faires are now being produced around the United States and the world—including right here in Chicago Northside.

About MAKE Magazine:

MAKE is the first magazine devoted entirely to Do-It-Yourself (DIY) technology projects. MAKE unites, inspires, informs, and entertains a growing community of resourceful people who undertake amazing projects in their backyards, basements, and garages. MAKE celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your will. Subscribe here.